Before I go further I must point out that INM is a listed company whose biggest shareholder is Denis O’Brien while Newstalk is part of the Communicorp group, which is owned by Denis O’Brien.

So this dispute about a takeover, reported both by the Irish Times and by RTÉ, is anything but routine. It offers an interesting insight into O’Brien’s business dealings.

Both reports carry an INM statement in which it confirmed that an “issue” had arisen between Pitt and Buckley “in relation to the terms of a possible acquisition by the company”.

The statement said discussions about the takeover “ended at a preliminary stage and the acquisition was never considered by the board”.

It also confirmed that a sub-committee of the INM board was set up to “review” Pitt’s dispute with Buckley.

According to the Irish Times, the row between Pitt and Buckley arose over the price that INM should pay for Newstalk. Pitt obtained a valuation from one corporate finance firm that was lower than the valuation obtained by Communicorp from a different corporate finance firm.

In a separate article, the Irish Times’s finance correspondent, Ciarán Hancock, called it “an extraordinary boardroom spat even for INM.”

As the paper states: “A sale of Newstalk to INM, which appears to be off the table at the moment, would have resulted in a significant payout for Denis O’Brien.”

It further reports that O’Brien “is thought to have held discussions earlier this year with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland over the possibility of selling Newstalk to INM.”

Hancock pointed to the “many questions that arise from this issue, even allowing for the INM statement that the acquisition was not formally put to the board.”

He asked: “Why would INM consider acquiring what is believed to be a loss-making national radio station that is losing market share?... How would this deal have been in the best interests of all shareholders?... Why did O’Brien want to offload Newstalk to INM?”

Meanwhile, O’Brien is suing the Irish state over comments made about his business affairs in Ireland’s parliament. His lawyers opened the case in Dublin’s high court on Tuesday.